The present invention is particularly intended for use on fuel tanks on commercial vehicles, although it may be used on any fuel tank connected to any type of engine. Fuel tanks typically include a fuel inlet or opening through which fuel is filled into the fuel tank. On commercial vehicles the fuel tanks may be quite large. Due to the large size of the fuel tank, filling of the fuel tanks make take a long time.
Some fuel inlets may define a length and an inner diameter that act to retain a fuel nozzle in place and allow the operator to release their grip on the fuel nozzle without the fuel nozzle falling from the fuel inlet during filling of a fuel tank with fuel. However, some fuel inlets have a length and an inner diameter that do not facilitate retention of a fuel nozzle within the fuel inlet unless the operator manually holds the fuel nozzle in the fuel inlet during the entire fuel filling process. Due to the large size of the fuel tank and the large amount of fuel required to fill a fuel tank, which may be 150 gallons of fuel, for example, an operator may be required to stand next to the fuel tank during filling and hold the fuel nozzle during the entire filling operation. This operation may be tiresome for the operator, especially in extremely cold winter conditions or very hot summer conditions. Moreover, this operation may also expose the operator to fuel fumes during the entire fuel tank filling process.
There is a need, therefore, for a fuel inlet that retains a fuel nozzle therein without requiring an operator to manually hold the fuel nozzle during the entire filling operation.